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Keeping the Sea Clean is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on how communities use science to protect coasts and oceans, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-ESS3-1. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 23 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Keeping the Sea Clean

5-ESS3-1

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.A fishing town's catches fall year after year. What could help the fish recover?
  • A.Catching the fish faster
  • B.Using bigger boats
  • C.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
2.A town turns off its seafront lights during the turtle nesting season. How could it check this worked?
  • A.Count how many hatchlings reach the sea before and after
  • B.Count the streetlights
  • C.Ask people whether they liked the dark
3.A beach survey found most of the litter was plastic bottles and their tops. Which measure uses that evidence best?
  • A.Closing the beach in winter
  • B.Painting the bins blue
  • C.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
4.Why do some fishing laws require nets with bigger holes?
  • A.So the nets are lighter
  • B.So more fish are caught
  • C.So young fish escape and grow up to breed
5.Why might a community replant seagrass and salt marsh along its coast?
  • A.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  • B.They keep tourists away
  • C.They make the sea saltier
6.Waste water is cleaned at a works before it reaches the sea. What does that protect?
  • A.Nothing, the sea cleans itself
  • B.Sea life and the people who swim there
  • C.Only the pipes
7.Storm drains carry street litter into the sea. What could a town do?
  • A.Make the drains wider
  • B.Sweep the litter into the drains
  • C.Fit nets or screens on the drains to catch litter
8.Why are tiny plastic beads banned from face washes in many countries?
  • A.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life
  • B.They make faces too clean
  • C.They are too expensive

LessonPrint · 5-ESS3-1 · Set 23 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Keeping the Sea Clean

Set 23. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.An area of sea where no fishing is allowed, so fish can breed
  2. 2.Count how many hatchlings reach the sea before and after
  3. 3.A scheme that pays people back for returning bottles
  4. 4.So young fish escape and grow up to breed
  5. 5.They shelter young fish and hold the mud in place
  6. 6.Sea life and the people who swim there
  7. 7.Fit nets or screens on the drains to catch litter
  8. 8.They wash down drains into the sea and are eaten by sea life

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS3-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.